Pride and Chivalry
by alex8h
Summary: Slytherin Carina Malfoy doesn't need to be told not to associate with Gryffindors, especially Gryffindor Weasleys. It's simply known that Malfoys and Weasleys don't mix. But George Weasley is nothing if not persistent.
1. Chapter 1

"Remember to use the lavender potion if you have any more headaches, sweetheart." Narcissa Malfoy smoothed down Carina's blonde hair in what Carina knew to be a loving gesture, though to an outsider the movement may have looked rather detached. "And keep close to the Rosiers. I heard their son is interested in you and they're an important family to connect with."

Carina resisted letting out an undignified snort. "Adam Rosier can barely spell his own name, Mother. I should hope any romantic prospects I have are of higher intelligence."

Narcissa nodded her assent, a smile tugging at her typically severe lips as she surveyed her eldest child. "Yes, as a prefect this year you can most certainly be more picky. Any of the boys in your year should be lucky to have you."

Draco rolled his eyes from behind their mother's back and in turn Carina narrowed hers in warning.

"Whatever, as long as you keep me out of detention now that you're a prefect, that's all that matters," he said, looking gleeful at what Carina was sure he thought was the prospect of harassing Harry Potter and his friends with no repercussions. Personally, Carina didn't particularly care one way or the other about Potter while believing Draco was a bit obsessed. She wasn't about to say anything of the sort in front of her family however.

"Carina will surely succeed in her prefect duties just as you, Draco, will succeed in quidditch, I'm sure," Lucius Malfoy spoke up. "Both of you will uphold the Malfoy name as always."

"Potter and the Gryffindors don't stand a chance this year in quidditch," Draco said, looking smug.

"Yes, well the train is about to leave so we should probably board now," Carina said impatiently. She could see her friends assembling in a compartment through the window and was eager to join them.

After a kiss on the cheek to her mother and a nod to her father, Carina dragged her much too heavy trunk up the steps and into the compartment her friends were in.

"Carie!" Sadie Warrington, Carina's best friend, greeted her cheerfully. "How was your summer?"

"We were wondering if you were going to miss the train with how late it was getting," Talia said cheekily, rising to help Carina with her trunk. "Thought that Draco would want to outdo Harry Potter's entrance from last year."

Carina rolled her eyes but laughed. "That certainly does sounds like something Draco would do, but rest assured I would never be dragged into his stupid plotting."

"Oh, you made prefect," Lyric, their fourth roommate, noted after spotting the badge pinned on the front of Carina's robes. "Congratulations! Though we always knew it would be you, of course."

"Thanks!" Carina smiled warmly at her friends. Though they had all spent a week at Talia's house back in June, it had been a while since she'd seen them. "Speaking of prefect duties though, I'm supposed to go to a prefect meeting now. Hopefully it doesn't last too long."

She stepped out of the compartment with a frown, not quite sure which way the prefect's compartment was. Hearing boisterous yells a few doors down, she decided to go and ask if anyone there knew where she could go.

"Fred, George, I demand that you treat me with the respect I deserve now that I'm Head Boy!"

Peering into the compartment, she saw Percy Weasley yelling at his younger brothers who sat with identical expressions of mock seriousness and their friend Lee Jordan who appeared to be having a difficult time holding back his laughter.

"I really don't understand the fuss, Perce," one twin (Fred, perhaps? Carina thought) said innocently.

"Yeah, we just thought you might want to liven up the presentation," the other said.

"Sneaking fireworks into my bag to go off in the prefect meeting is NOT how to 'liven up the presentation,'" he said furiously, seemingly about to launch into another lecture.

"We're sorry, Percy. Truly." Fred got up and gave his elder brother a large hug. Carina doubted his sincerity though when she saw him wink at George behind Percy's back and the other twin placed several dungbombs into Percy's bag.

Carina couldn't help but let out a laugh. Immediately everyone turned to look at her in varying degrees of surprise and distrust.

"Is there a problem, Malfoy?" Percy Weasley turned around so Carina could finally see the Head Boy badge pinned on his robes. Except instead of 'Head Boy' it read 'Humongous Bighead.' Carina choked on a laugh, quickly turned it into a cough.

"I was just, ah, wondering where the prefect meeting is," she said, unable to prevent a giggle from escaping as she caught the mischievous eye of George Weasley who looked both surprised and delighted at her reaction to his brother's badge. His twin was similarly not expecting her laughter but remained suspicious, eyeing her with skepticism.

"Ah yes, I was just headed there myself so you may follow me. I am the Head Boy, this year, obviously," he said pompously. "You and your brother would do well to remember to respect the badge."

"Oh, of course." Carina couldn't help the sarcasm that bled through her tone but Percy didn't seem to notice as he packed up his things and headed towards the prefect meeting location.

Once at the meeting, Carina was rather dismayed to see her Slytherin counterpart was Rowan Montague. Really, she thought disgruntled, were there no other options among the Slytherin fifth years? From what she knew of Montague, he seemed to communicate exclusively in grunts. She was sure to be doing the heavy lifting of their duties.

The actual meeting itself ended rather abruptly with the explosion of the dungbombs from Percy's bag. Though he and the Head Girl cleared away the smell after the first one, several more followed, suspiciously corresponding with Percy's use of the words 'honor', 'duty', 'respect', and 'Head Boy'. The room was quickly evacuated with the official meeting rescheduled for later.

Carina left the room coughing but with a large grin. Though the antics of the Weasley twins were often inane and childish, they were at least a welcome distraction from the monotony of classes and Percy Weasley's droning speeches. She suspected if they put half as much effort into their schoolwork as they did into their pranks, they would pass their OWLs with flying colors. The chances of that happening were practically zero though. Their lack of academic focus was just one of the reasons they were never going to reach the caliber of the Malfoys.

As she made her way back to her friends, a sudden chill seemed to sweep through the hallways of the train. Frost creeped up on the windows and Carina realized the sense of dread she felt in the pit of her stomach was building. She opened the door to the first compartment she saw and locked it behind her, hoping to escape whatever was causing her anxiety to rocket.

"What are you doing here again, Malfoy?"

She turned around to see Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins regarding her with the same wariness as before. Though their wands weren't actually drawn and pointed at her, she could see Fred Weasley's grip on his wand tighten from where he held it at his side.

"I was coming back from the prefect meeting and there was this…" she shrugged helplessly, unable to find the right words to describe what had occured in the hallway. "You didn't feel it?"

"Feel what?" Lee asked just as the train came to a shuddering halt and the lights went out. The trio exchanged looks with each other.

"Outside," George said in an uncharacteristically somber tone. "Something flew past the window."

The four of them peered outside to see large hooded figures swooping around the gray sky. The door to their compartment slammed open. One of the dark figures filled the doorway and Carina felt as though she couldn't breathe. A gasp came from her right but she couldn't turn her head to see who it was.

The laughter she had shared earlier with her friends and coming out of the prefect's meeting was sucked out of her as she began to recall her Aunt Bellatrix coming over to Malfoy Manor when she was a child and practicing the worst spells with her, her grandfather's punishments inflicted on herself and Draco when they would disobey…

With what felt like an enormous effort, Carina lifted her wand. "Pro-Protego!" she managed to get out. Her Shield Charm barely solidified and seemed to have no impact whatsoever on the figure.

The creature lingered for a few excruciatingly long minutes before leaving and the four students remained silent for several more. Carina's knees felt weak and if it weren't for George Weasley's grip on her arm, she knew she would have sunk to the floor.

"Cara!" Her brother burst into the compartment with his usual sidekicks, Crabbe and Goyle, all of them looking pale and terrified.

"It's ok, Draco," she said weakly. "It's moved on now. Are you ok?"

"I suppose…" Draco shuddered.

"Blimey," breathed out Fred Weasley. "What the bloody hell was that thing?"

"Dementors," Carina said in a shaky voice that she didn't recognize as her own. The others all looked just as shaken up as she felt, which made her feel marginally better.

"Well done, Ms. Malfoy. A shame we aren't at the castle yet or I would have awarded you points for the correct answer." A new person came into their compartment, making the small space even more cramped. Though surrounded by an air of great exhaustion, the older man nevertheless smiled kindly at them. From the pockets of his shabby robes, he withdrew a bar of chocolate. "Sit down and eat this. It'll help."

"Who are _you_?" Draco eyed the man with a sense of disdain.

"I'm not about to take anything from a stranger," Carina agreed, sharing a look with Draco that spoke of mutual distrust of the stranger.

"You must be the new Defense teacher, right?" George spoke up, his grip on her arm still unrelenting.

"Correct, Mr. Weasley. Remus Lupin, at your service. Though you'll be calling me Professor Lupin soon enough." The man smiled and handed George the chocolate. "Split it amongst yourselves. Trust me. Now if everyone here is alright, I'll be on my way to check on the other students. I look forward to seeing you all in class."

"He doesn't look as though he'll be able to defend us from a house elf much less from whatever that was," Draco scoffed, though still looking rather pale.

"Dementor," Carina reminded him with a shudder. "They guard Azkaban."

"What, like you could defend us?" Fred snorted at Draco before adopting a sickly sweet tone. "I'm sure that's why you came running for your sister, to defend her. Surely it wasn't to hide behind her, right little Draco?"

Draco scowled at Fred but didn't respond as George broke the chocolate bar into pieces with a large _snap_ and passed them out.

"Can't hurt to try it," he said to Carina's look of skepticism. After a brief hesitation, she nodded to Draco and everyone bit into their pieces. Immediately as she tasted the sweetness, warmth filled her again and as she looked around, she could see everyone's shoulders release tension and the color coming back into their faces. Of course, the tranquil scene was only momentary before it was broken by a rather disgusting noise.

"For Merlin's sake, could you chew any louder?" Lee Jordan asked with a disgusted look at Crabbe.

"You eat like a starving coyote," George agreed.

Seeing the younger boys about to argue back, Carina quickly intervened, sending them back to get ready since they were nearing the castle.

"Hey, Malfoy," George called out as they were leaving. "Uh, just Carina," he amended once Draco and Carina both turned around.

"Go ahead," Carina told Draco before raising a questioning eyebrow at George. "Yes?"

He gave a sudden grin. "How did the prefect's meeting end up going?"

Carina's lips twitched as she remembered the dungbombs. "Postponed until a later date," she responded dryly. "Though I'm sure you couldn't guess the reason why."

"Shame," George said looking unrepentant as his twin and Lee exchanged excited looks at their prank working. "Though next time it would be nice to see Percy's face when it happens."

Carina paused as she stepped through the doorway. She wasn't going to consider helping a Weasley, was she? Though it would be against another Weasley… and she'd be helping herself of course by making the dull prefect meetings much more exciting and hopefully cut short.

"Tonight after dinner in the Great Hall," she called back to them. Fred straightened up, Lee looked concerned, and George just raised an eyebrow. "That's when the next prefect meeting is. In case you wanted to… _welcome_ your brother to his new position."

* * *

"You seem strangely excited for your prefect meeting tonight," Lyric observed after the Sorting was done for that year. Her bright green eyes inquisitively looked over Carina, though not with any suspicion.

"Hmmm? Oh I suppose I just want to know what the job actually entails. It's not like we heard anything before Weasley was interrupted," Carina said airily, piling her plate with mashed potatoes. She paused and looked at where Draco and his friends were sitting farther down the Slytherin table. Crabbe really did have awful eating habits, she thought. With a wrinkle of her nose, she pushed her full plate away having lost her appetite.

Her eyes wandered over to the Gryffindor table where Fred was gesturing wildly to his surrounding friends, no doubt regaling them with some tall tale, while George was staring right at her, laughing openly at her disgust with Crabbe's ravenous eating. Carina flushed once she realized he was looking back at her and immediately narrowed her eyes at him. He didn't seem particularly frightened of her, though she noted with some satisfaction that he looked away and rejoined his friends' conversation.

"Well I know that the Weasley twins can't be why you're suddenly happy about your prefect meeting." Talia's sly voice broke through Carina's thoughts. "Since there's no way either one of them is a prefect. Unless you're enjoying the idea of giving them detentions for the rest of the year?"

"Not what I was thinking of, though the idea is certainly tempting," Carina grinned back, a bit embarrassed she'd been caught looking at the Gryffindors. "I'm fairly sure they're planning on sabotaging this meeting like they did on the train and it's always a laugh to see Percy Weasley flustered."

"Oh yeah, he probably can't handle not 'having his badge respected', especially by his own family." Talia imitated the Head Boy with startling accuracy, causing the four girls to fall into laughter. "Dumb as they are, those are always entertaining to have in class. As long as they focus their pranks on the teachers and not us." She gave a sudden scowl, her dark eyes flashing.

"Still not over the whole cauldron exploding thing of second year?" Lyric suggested.

"I'll _never_ be over the cauldron exploding thing. I got two weeks of detention for it! Though I might forgive them if they focus their attentions on Binns this year."

"I'm almost hoping I fail my History of Magic OWL this year just so my parents don't make me continue taking it," Sadie said with a huff of frustration. "It's just so bloody boring!"

"It's no worse than Divination," Carina pointed out. "At least you can tune out Binns and he won't care. Trelawney expects us to actively participate."

At long last, dinner was over and the students slowly trickled out of the Great Hall back to their respective dormitories. Carina's friends left her with Sadie telling her with a giggle to recount the Weasley pranks at the prefect meeting in great detail when she returned.

The night didn't disappoint. Every other word the Head Boy tried to say came out as a chicken squawk. When Penelope Clearwater tried to fix it, Percy just grew large feathers while Penelope's wand turned into rubber.

"I suppose we'll have to reschedule this one as well," Penelope said loudly over the excited chatters of the prefects. "Everyone back to your rooms for tonight while I get Percy to the hospital wing."

As she rose from her seat, Carina saw two redheads out of the corner of her eye across the hall snickering to themselves. The two soon caught her eye, with Fred giving her a nod and George treating her to a jovial smile as they slipped out unseen. Carina returned to her dorm with a large grin as she thought of Percy Weasley as a giant chicken.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning saw the four members of the fifth year Slytherin girls' dormitory make their way to their first class of the day — Defense Against the Dark Arts. Due to the unstable nature of its teaching position, the first lesson of that particular class was always the most anticipated by the students.

"I heard from Warren that he already assigned the seventh years homework," Lyric said distastefully.

"With any luck he'll be like Lockhart and give an O to anything that praises his own genius." Talia rolled her eyes.

Talia's verbal eviscerations of Lockhart had become legendary among their year, Carina recalled fondly. She would skillfully word her insults in such a way that Lockhart thought she was actually complimenting him. Sadie was always too worried about disrespecting any teacher to participate. Carina herself prefered Lyric's choice to simply observe with muffled laughter; though once Lockhart's ineptness was proven after their third week in class, Carina sometimes couldn't help but join in on Talia's sly taunts, preferring wittier attacks on the teacher.

A particularly memorable lesson had involved Professor McGonagall walking in on their class to see Carina giving a particularly clever pseudo-compliment to distract Lockhart while Talia levitated some pixie droppings into his tea as he was distracted. The girls had frozen upon McGonagall's entrance, expecting detention. Instead, McGonagall had simply paused, assessed the situation and given them a slight nod before handing Lockhart the note she had originally come in to give. Carina was fairly sure she had seen the stern professor give a smirk while Sadie swore she saw her wink. After that incident, Carina had built a silent relationship on mutual respect with the just Transfiguration teacher.

"What are you so happy about?" Sadie asked, giving Carina a gentle nudge.

"I was just thinking about how Talia used to taunt Lockhart. Remember when McGonagall came in?" Carina said fondly.

"Say what you want about her precious Gryffindors, but the woman at least recognizes incompetence. She gave me ten points after that just for 'exquisite handwriting' on my next assignment since she couldn't outright reward us for hating Lockhart." Talia grinned.

"But your handwriting's shit," Lyric observed.

"Watch it!"

The four girls burst out laughing, drawing stares as they made their way to the Defense classroom.

"You can't deny Lockhart wasn't nice to look at though," Sadie teased. "Those blue eyes… that wavy golden hair…"

"I think you just described my dog," Lyric interjected.

Sadie threw her a mock dirty look as Talia and Carina snickered but continued. "Regardless, if this teacher's going to be as useless as the others, I hope he's at least attractive. What did you think about him, Carina?"

"He certainly seemed fairly competent on the train. A bit too shabby-looking for me though." Carina shrugged.

"I just hope he's not a Gryffindor," Talia huffed out. "They always favor their own house and the Gryffindors think they can get away with more in those classes. What'd he seem like?"  
"Concerned enough to be a Hufflepuff but too much backbone," Carina said, flicking her eyes in an unconcerned manner towards the group of Hufflepuffs now shooting her glares.

"He's a professor. Doesn't he have to care about his students?" Sadie asked.

"He has to help; that's not the same thing as caring," Lyric corrected, adding with a snort, "Can you see Snape suddenly asking after our wellbeing?"

"Defense is too hands-on to be of interest to a 'Claw, all they do is analyze every textbook to death," Carina continued. Sadie let out a giggle, and Lyric threw a superior look to the Ravenclaw walking by them. The Ravenclaw in turn sent them a scowl and a jinx, which Carina neatly deflected without breaking stride.

"Dumbledore would sooner let a hoard of trolls destroy the castle than let a Slytherin teach the subject. So I'm going with Gryffindor," she finished just as they entered the classroom.

"A rather untraditional analysis of the houses, no?" Professor Lupin came up behind them with a raised eyebrow.

"Was I wrong?" Carina held her head high unabashedly.

"Technically no," Lupin admitted with an incline of his head, conceding her point. "I was a Gryffindor. Though I certainly hope you won't be so dismissive of other houses in the future, Ms. Malfoy."

Carina and Lyric exchanged eye rolls as they all took their seats.

* * *

As they left the class an hour later, Carina was quite pleased with how their class was shaping up. Professor Lupin led an exciting class filled with practical applications. Though he indeed assigned them an essay due next class, it served a useful purpose and not mere busy work that Carina hated. He even treated the Slytherins fairly compared to the Gryffindors they shared the lesson with, from what Carina could tell. Best of all, Lupin seemed to actually be teaching them the OWL curriculum, something Carina had been prepared to do on her own with little faith in whatever professor Dumbledore had chosen. Luckily it seemed that she would have more free time this year not having to study for her Defense OWL from scratch.

"That was pretty good!" Sadie said enthusiastically. "I can't wait to see what my Patronus looks like."

The others nodded, excitedly discussing what they thought each other's Patronuses would be.

"If mine's a fish or something, I don't know what I'll do," Lyric declared.

"Don't worry, it won't be a fish," Talia said soothingly. "It's much more likely it'll be a flobberworm."

As Lyric threw her textbook at Talia, Carina and Sadie made their way to their Transfiguration classroom.

"You don't think one of us will actually have a flobberworm, do you?" Sadie asked, looking rather worried.

"If any of us has a flobberworm reflecting our true self, it's not you," Carina said dismissively. "You're probably a bunny."

Many often wondered how Sadie ended up in Slytherin. It was true that her pure blood family had a mostly Slytherin lineage, but her studious and overall non-confrontational nature made some think her a better candidate for Ravenclaw or even Hufflepuff. However, only her close friends knew the intense ambition Sadie had to become a curse breaker, her ultimate goal to be the youngest head curse breaker for the whole North American continent.

No one ever questioned Carina's placement in her house.

"Thanks, I'm glad I'm such a threatening figure," Sadie huffed. "You'll probably be like a lion or something."

Sadie's eyes widened and she quickly amended her statement. "Not like a Gryffindor lion or anything. I just meant like a confident, king of the jungle kind of lion. You know, like maybe Patronus is going to be a tiger."

Carina rolled her eyes. "Let's just go get our seats."

Of their group, Carina and Sadie were the ones who took their classes seriously and put time into their work. Talia and Lyric were intelligent enough to attain good enough grades for their parents' standards with minimal effort and prefered to spend their class time passing notes. As a result, the four tended not to sit together during class, with the first pair sitting in the front row of most classes and the latter two avoiding the gaze of their professors by strategically sitting near the middle. Transfiguration in particular was a challenging class for both Carina and Sadie and so ever since their first year, they had occupied a specific table in the front row to make sure they were able to pay attention with no distractions. No one had ever really challenged them on their seats as a glare from the two girls was usually enough to deter anyone. After their third year, their claim on that table had gone uncontested.

When they began to walk towards their usual seats this year however, Carina had to stop and blink a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Two red-headed Gryffindors were in her and Sadie's seats. The seats that they most certainly _knew_ belonged to them.

The Weasley twins always sat towards the back of the classroom. The near universal respect held for McGonagall by the student population was true for the Weasley twins as well, but that usually just meant small pranks instead of outright attempting to explode the classroom (as they had done on numerous occasions in Potions).

Lee Jordan, who had been watching from several rows away, suddenly looked panicked at the sight of the two Slytherins headed for his best friends. Carina had to imagine that his fear didn't stem from Sadie.

"What are they doing?" Sadie was similarly bewildered at the thought of their usual seats taken. "Don't they know-"

"Of course they know," Carina replied, seeing Fred Weasley catch sight of them and send a happily smug look. "They want a reaction for some reason."

"I guess it _is_ just a table. The one next to them is open and still in the front row so we could sit there if we need to." Sadie didn't sound thrilled at the prospect. "I don't want to give them the satisfaction of asking them to move though…"

"Oh, I wasn't planning on asking." Carina narrowed her eyes back at Fred, letting her hand linger on her wand threateningly.

"Carina, no!" Sadie exclaimed. "Let's just ask them if we can have the table back. If they say no and we argue, we'll let them know we want it. The other table is just as good anyway."

"Fair enough," Carina sighed and pocketed her wand as they approached the twins.

"Can we help you?" George Weasley said cheekily. "Looking lovely as ever, ladies."

"You're in our seats," Carina said bluntly. She had thought about asking nicely like Sadie wanted but George was looking far too comfortable sprawled out on the left side of the table where she usually sat. Didn't they know the unspoken classroom etiquette that the seats you had on the first day were the ones you kept for the rest of the year? Sure, the Weasleys had technically gotten there first this year, but she and Sadie had laid claim to that table years ago.

"I don't see your names on them anywhere." Fred leaned back in his seat with an unaffected air.

"They are actually," Sadie responded, looking as equally unimpressed with the Weasleys' antics as Carina was. "Check underneath the desk."

George ran his hands along the bottom, smiling when his fingers ran across the etchings that Carina knew read 'Property of Sadie Warrington and Carina Malfoy' which Sadie had carefully inscribed with her wand back in their fifth year.

"Hmm, it seems they have actually done it, Fred." George shifted and settled deeper in his - no, _her_ seat, badly hiding an amused look as Carina's shoulders became visibly more tense with each movement he made. "Wonder what they'll actually do about it."

"So move back to wherever you usually sit and give us our table," Sadie commanded, looking put out. Carina would have made the mental note not to get between Sadie and her study essentials except she had realized this their second year when she and Lyric had accidentally used up all of Sadie's favorite ink. It had been a tense week in their dormitory until they bought her a refill of the ink. _The Weasleys didn't know what was coming_ , she thought with some pride.

"Look, Warrington, it's really not personal." Fred leaned back as his brother had done, his arms casually behind his head in the picture of leisure. "How about this, let us have this table for the week— no, the month — and we'll owe you one."

"A month?" Sadie nearly shrieked.

"Trust us on this one. I don't know about Warrington here, but you might actually enjoy this." George shot a charming smile to Carina.

Carina coldly raised an eyebrow, bit the inside of her cheek, and took a step back.

"Come on," she said lowly to Sadie. "Let's just go to the other table."

Sadie pursed her lips but followed her to the table right next to the Weasleys.

"What happened to 'not asking'?" Sadie whispered to her as they sat down.

"What happened to 'not giving them the satisfaction of arguing'?" Carina shot back.

Sadie gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah, sorry about that. He was just so… smug. I couldn't help myself. I know it's just a dumb table but we've been there for four years now!"

"Yeah, I know. But you heard them, it's just for a month. This way we can see what they're up to now anyway." The two girls sent suspicious glances at the twins, who waved and smiled cheerfully back.

The rest of the class filtered in slowly, all reacting with double-takes. Carina didn't know if it was at the Weasley twins sitting in the front row for once or because they were at her and Sadie's table. Regardless, they were treated to worried looks by the other students, as though afraid the two diminutive Slytherin girls would attack the Weasleys. Carina could only sigh internally.

Talia and Lyric's reactions when they came in didn't disappoint either. Lyric shot them an alarmed look while Talia mouthed 'what the hell'. Carina gave a shrug while Sadie grimaced.

Professor McGonagall entered the classroom briskly. "I hope everyone is settled as we're going to start with Vanishing Spells. Just because we're back from summer break does not mean I will take it easy on you. As you know, your OWLS are this year and their importance cannot be stressed enough. Now, Ms. Malfoy, can you tell me the five elements of — "

McGonagall had stopped speaking once her eyes had landed where Carina usually sat, which of course was now occupied by George Weasley.

"I think the person you're looking for is there, Professor," George said with a look of innocence, nodding to where Carina sat at the table next to him.

The look of surprise that crossed McGonagall's face was so great that for a moment Carina was sure the professor was about to pass out. Even the twins seemed to think so as well. Fred, who had a moment before looked pleased at McGonagall's surprise, became worried and George was halfway out of his seat to help the professor before she waved him off.

"For Merlin's sake, Weasley, I'm not an invalid," she snapped irritably. "What exactly are you up to?"

"It's O.W.L. year, Professor," Fred said, with wide eyes. "The exams that determine the rest of our lives."

"New year, new us," George added. An audible laugh came from a group of their Gryffindor friends a few rows back. George adopted a look of offense, even drawing a sniff of disbelief from McGonagall. Sadie and Carina exchanged looks of skepticism.

"Thrilled as I am that you've suddenly taken an interest in your schoolwork after a long history of not doing so," McGonagall addressed them dryly. "I can't help but wonder how far you're willing to take your new-found motivation."

"Oh, we're committed, Professor." Fred nodded seriously.

"Wonderful." The professor gave a thin-lipped smile. "Then I'm sure you'll be excited with your new partners."

"What?" George asked blankly.

"It seems that Ms. Malfoy and Ms. Warrington were generous enough to let you sit in their usual spots. Perhaps, their generosity will extend a bit further." McGonagall raised an eyebrow at Carina and Sadie.

 _Not bloody likely_ , Carina thought. Interpreting her expression correctly, Lyric and Talia burst out laughing, trying in vain to muffle the sounds. Beside her, Sadie was nervously chewing her lip.

"Ms. Warrington, kindly exchange seats with Mr. Weasley — no, the other Mr. Weasley. Since you two seem to want to change your study habits, you should learn from the best students in this class. I expect you to work with each other during class for practicing. Do try to refrain from your usual antics, boys."

George opened his mouth to say something presumably brazen as he sat where Sadie had been but the stern look McGonagall shot him made it clear that simply 'trying' would not be enough.

"Malfoy, Warrington, I expect you to help them as you would each other during class. Is that clear?"

Carina and Sadie nodded with similar frowns, though Carina was less shy about hiding the annoyance on her face from the professor. She raised her hand patiently and McGonagall called on her.

"How long are these seat assignments meant to last, Professor?"

"Until the first exam I give you, which should be in about a month. If I see a marked improvement in all of your attitudes, I will let you back to your usual spots."

 _All_ of your attitudes? Carina shared a confused look with Sadie.

"Now, Ms. Malfoy, as I meant to ask you originally, what are the five components one must remember when performing a Vanishing Spell?"

* * *

As the rest of the class trickled out after the grueling Transfiguration class, Carina and Sadie remained where they were. George left the table without a single glance her way. Once the room had emptied, the girls approached McGonagall.

"Professor," Sadie began slowly. "We were wondering if we could talk to you about our new seating arrangements."  
"My decision won't change, Ms. Warrington. Believe me, I understand your trepidation but the Weasleys are quite clever. With your guidance, I'm hoping they'll focus more on their OWLs and disrupt the class less as a whole."

"Yes, but why do we need to be the ones babysitting them?" Carina said impatiently.

"You two are good students in my class with particularly good study habits." McGonagall raised an eyebrow and looked almost impressed. "Not to mention you might be the only ones in this class who they'll be too afraid to target with one of their jokes. Yes, Warrington, you too.

"I also believe it will do you some good to interact with other Houses." Now this, Carina was not expecting. Seeing their surprise, the professor continued.

"Your House as a whole is remarkably insular. You have little to no interaction with others, not to mention respect for them." McGonagall gave a pointed look at Carina.

"I really think that's more of my own personal character trait than one instilled because of my House," Carina drawled. McGonagall was clearly overlooking the fact that there were several members of the Slytherin House itself Carina held little esteem for, she thought.

"One month, Ms. Malfoy. If the Weasleys do not focus and the two of you do not show more than a minimal effort in working with them during class, it will be for the rest of term."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to my first two reviewers and everyone who's favorited/followed this story! I hope you like this chapter and please review more!**

"So you two are now their glorified babysitters?" Lyric and Talia both looked far too amused for Carina's liking.

"I don't see what's glorified about it at all," Carina said, stabbing the piece of chicken on her plate just a bit too hard to seem controlled. "McGonagall made it clear we were there to make sure they didn't disrupt the class. Maybe have them learn something once in a while if they can handle it."

"Have fun keeping them under control," Talia chortled. "They're like hyperactive children who've had too much sugar. And that's on a good day."

"Maybe they'll be easier to handle since they're separated." Sadie was much more optimistic about the whole thing than Carina was.

"Remind me again why you were the ones chosen for this."

"Because McGonagall felt we needed to expand our circle beyond our own House, we told you." Sadie generously left out McGonagall picking on Carina specifically but Talia wouldn't let it go so easily.

"And?" Talia raised a sharply arched eyebrow at Carina, looking positively gleeful.

"Apparently I'm 'too disrespectful of others.'" Carina sniffed. She didn't go so far as to raise her hands to place the air quotes around the words, but her tone made it clear what she thought of the professor's sentiment.

"Um, you are," Lyric pointed out.

"Well, it's not my fault everyone is so subpar." She looked pointedly towards the Hufflepuff table where a fellow fifth year was enthusiastically launching mashed potatoes from his spoon into the open chewing mouth of an unsuspecting third year boy, who promptly choked.

"She can't honestly expect us to think that everyone is deserving of equal respect," Carina continued amidst the bustle surrounding the neighboring Hufflepuff table. The third year boy had coughed up the potatoes onto a girl sitting next to him. The girl then threw up in disgust at having the food on her while Professor Sprout went down from the teachers' table to handle the mess.

It was nice sometimes to see her point proven without her doing any work for it. The Slytherin table was unlikely to find that kind of ruckus happening any time soon.

"Hear, hear."

"I wonder if all Hufflepuffs have weak stomachs."

"It's just for one semester. I'm sure we can bring up their grades in that time and everything will be back to normal. Didn't you say you had already started drawing up a study schedule for George?"

Carina blinked as the girls all spoke at once before deciding that Sadie's comment was really the only one to address. "I've only outlined the first week. I thought we would work on the essay she assigned us on Vanishing Spells but who knows if he'll listen."

"Hmm, that's a good idea. I was just going to do some basic review sessions to make sure Fred paid attention in class but then he might just not do his homework."

Carina hummed distractedly in response, eyes focused on a particular redhead at the Gryffindor table. The irony didn't escape her that the last time she'd looked that way had been in excitement over helping them against their brother while this time she was worried he'd pull his pranks on her during class.

She frowned as George laughed over something Alicia Spinnet said. George Weasley was going to be a straight-O student in Transfiguration whether he liked it or not. Well, for this term at least.

* * *

Carina leaned against the wall, waiting patiently for the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Charms lesson to finish. After their second Transfiguration lesson yesterday, she had been planning on telling George to meet her in the library but he had left the moment class ended without a single look her way. If that's how he wanted it, he was in for quite the rude awakening, Carina thought grimly.

Luckily, his red hair made him stand out from the rush of students pouring out of the classroom. After a moment of scrutiny to determine which twin was the one she needed, Carina quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him off to the side.

"Wha- Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"Telling you what we'll be doing for the next few months."

George Weasley's eyes took on an amused gleam despite her bored tone. He waved off Fred and the other friends he was talking to previously, adjusting his wrinkled sleeve where Carina had unceremoniously grabbed him.

"Forward, I like it," he teased, leaning closer to Carina. "What did you have in mind?"

"I hope you find essays arousing, Weasley, because that's the only action you'll be getting," Carina said dryly, proud of not showing any reaction apart from a faint blush. He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Transfiguration, Weasley. Try to keep up."

"You couldn't have just told me in class?"

"I was going to tell you once the lesson was over but you left rather quickly."

"Ah, I'm pleased you cared enough to conduct a search for me." And he did look pleased, in a self-satisfied way. Carina rolled her eyes.

"Don't mistake my concern for caring, Weasley. My position in that class is on the line just as much as yours is, and as much as I hate to admit it, you're my way out."

"You could just call me George, you know." He looked down at her with the same laughter on his face as before but with a hint of something… serious? Surely not with George Weasley. "There are quite a few of us around Hogwarts. Could get confusing."

"Since you're the only Weasley I plan on interacting with, that shouldn't be a problem," Carina said after a few awkward moments of blinking up at him, taken aback by his strange tone. George didn't look surprised at her refusal.

Carina took a few steps to the side and could finally feel herself breathe. George Weasley had been awfully close and she wasn't about to back down, but Merlin, did she feel on edge.

"8 tonight in the library," she called out as she walked away. "Don't be late."

At least he seemed receptive to the idea of their study sessions. It was almost embarrassing how relieved she felt at this small fact. Maybe Sadie was right and it wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

She was wrong. More importantly, she was pissed.

"Weasley," Carina said sharply. She couldn't help but slightly enjoy how he flinched in surprise. George turned around with a raised eyebrow. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, who were sitting across the table from him, both adopted guarded expressions as she approached. "You're late."

"Relax, Malfoy," he said lazily. "Waiting for a minute won't hurt you. Besides, how can I leave my girls here to deal with Wood's quidditch mania all alone?"

He shot them a wink. The simpering the girls did over him was rather pathetic, Carina thought with some disgust.

"It's been twenty minutes, not one. Get your things and meet me at the table in the back before I turn your wand into a flobberworm." Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and walked back to her table.

Carina busied herself by flipping through the Transfiguration textbook to land on the chapter they had just gone over in class. She didn't look up when the chair across from her was pulled out and a lanky figure dropped down unceremoniously into it. Nor did she complain when his things were completely strewn across the table. After all, she hadn't even been sure she could have gotten him to come and with George Weasley, it was the little victories that counted.

"Alright, I've drawn up a schedule of the topics — what?" Carina blinked a little when she finally looked up to see him frowning down at her.

"I was just wondering who stuck a wand up your arse," he said conversationally.

"Excuse me?" Her jaw practically dropped.

"One week ago you were helping us prank Percy and now you're acting like we're ruining your life." Carina didn't much care for the way George was looking at her in an accusatory manner. She refrained from pettily saying "um, you _are_ " and instead adopted a similar glare to his.

"Your little joke helped me get out a dull prefect meeting and was amusing that one time. But now you and your brother are putting my Transfiguration grade at risk, not to mention taking my favorite seat and splitting up Sadie and I."

George opened his mouth presumably to refute her arguments, but she carried on. "The least you can do is sit down, shut up, and listen to me while I create some sort of plan to get us both back in McGonagall's good graces and in our usual seats."

At least he had the good sense to listen to her, she thought as he closed his mouth and sat back with an expectant expression. Perhaps he wasn't completely a lost cause.

"We'll start by reviewing what we went over in class this week. What exactly do they-"

"The animate and inanimate, so basically everything," George interrupted her. Carina had to commend him on only showing a hint of satisfaction at her obvious surprise. She herself would have been unbearably cocky in his position. "I learned Vanishing Spells already."

Carina was about to ask why they had studied it so far in advance before deciding that it was probably best to know as little as possible about the Weasley twins' affairs. Though she was sure that she'd be implicated in at least one of their pranks by the end of the semester, it was best that she plead ignorance where she could.

"Alright then." Carina placed her quill on the table in between them, leveling George with a challenging look. "Show me."

Without breaking eye contact with her, he flicked his wand and the quill disappeared. Damn it. Nonverbal too.

"Are we done here?" he asked pointedly.

"You're telling me that you can do a nonverbal Vanishing Spell but you're still failing Transfiguration?"

"Oh, I ace the practicals." The smile he shot her was finally smug. "I just don't see much point in writing an essay on something I already know how to do."

"You still need to know the fundamentals of the spell. What to use it with, what it reacts with." George's expression remained impassive. Carina sighed and pushed the textbook towards him.

"We have an hour. Write an outline and finish the introduction while we're here. I've marked down the pages that are helpful and I brought this other book that explains the changes to the structure of the animate objects more clearly than the textbook does."

George stared at her and she had a moment of panic. Really, what could she do if he just decided to leave? She had a little power as a prefect but he couldn't care less about that and he knew that she knew it. Mercifully after a brief silent staring contest, he grabbed the textbook between them and pulled out a quill.

Carina let her shoulders drop in relief and she returned to her own work.

"Where's your essay then?"

"I already finished it. This is the Charms assignment." She blinked at him in confusion. George sheepishly nodded and put his head down again.

At the end of the hour, Carina was fully engrossed in her Ancient Runes text, having finished her Charms work already, when a loud thump in front of her startled her. She lept back in her chair with a gasp, seeing nothing but the heavy Transfiguration textbook and a sheet of parchment tucked inside with an outline and introduction like she'd asked in front of her. Carina twisted around to see the back of George Weasley's head as he turned the corner of the library.

Her grey eyes narrowed as she considered his abrupt departure. Rude. Curious, she picked up the parchment with his loose scrawl. He was right about being talented magically. After they had been partnered up in Transfiguration, Carina had kept a close eye on George Weasley in their other classes together. She had to admit she'd never seen him struggle too much in the execution aspect, at least no more so than the average student. As to how it transferred to his written work, however…

His beginning was fine, just a bit short, she mused while correcting it. His outline, on the other hand, was abysmal. Carina had the impression that this must be what it was like inside George Weasley's mind, with doodles all over the margins and little notes written in no apparent order. Some of it didn't even appear to be related to Vanishing Spells. One scribble simply read 'multiply?' with a flame drawn next to it. Carina didn't want to even try to decipher it and instead placed it in her bag to give to him later.

* * *

The next day in Transfiguration, George Weasley dropped into his seat to find a mildly irritated Carina Malfoy. As this wasn't anything particularly new, he didn't look worried but Carina still wondered if she was losing her touch.

"You left these last night." She tossed his parchment containing the beginnings of his essay and his 'outline' (she was fairly sure that the utter lack of structure disqualified it from being simply called an outline without the quotes around it).

"I thought you wanted to look it over."

"I wanted to go over it _with_ you so you know how to improve. And next time, you could let me know you're leaving instead of just throwing a heavy book at me."

"Don't be dramatic." He rolled his eyes but a smile was tugging at his lips, which made Carina even angrier. "The book wasn't even that big. At most it would have left a bruise, not knocked you unconscious."

Carina tightened her mouth in a valiant effort not to retaliate and settled for letting out a huff and determinedly looking away from him.

"Whatever. For tomorrow night, bring it back with corrections and add a paragraph on its most common uses."

"What? I didn't agree to this so you could give me more homework." He glared at her.

"This is the assignment you already had!" she said exasperatedly. "I'm just making you finish it!"

"Mr. Weasley! Ms. Malfoy!" Carina and George looked up to see the intimidating Transfiguration professor looming over their desk. "If you're quite done subjecting the entire class to your petty squabble, I'd like to begin teaching."

Carina glanced around the classroom to see that all of the Gryffindors were openly staring at them. The Slytherins were equally as interested in the argument but most had averted their eyes in an effort to be subtle.

"Yes, Professor," the two sullenly muttered, exchanging frowns.

Next to them, Fred Weasley had stuffed his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing out loud and even Sadie was biting her lip to hide a smile. Lyric and Talia had dissolved into silent giggles. The rest of the class was not much better and it took McGonagall several moments to get the room back in order, though not without a severe look sent towards Carina and George.

Once the class finished, George began his usual routine of leaving as soon as possible but Carina latched onto his elbow.

"Tomorrow night, same place. And be on time." She turned to leave but this time he grabbed her wrist, looking hesitant.

"I have quidditch practice tomorrow night. What about Thursday?"

"I have prefect duty." Carina bit her lip, trying to think of a time that would work and ignoring George's hand still holding onto her.

"Tonight then. I'll have that paragraph done."

She raised her eyebrows, begrudgingly impressed and grateful that he was working with her.

"Are you sure you can finish it in time? We can always-"

"I'll have it done," George repeated seriously, looking her in the eyes. Carina nodded slowly and he let go of her.

"Thanks," she called out as she left.

"Well?" Her friends were waiting outside for her with expectant looks.

"He was actually… nice about it," Carina admitted.

"I told you it wouldn't be bad," Sadie said happily. "Fred and I are supposed to work together tonight for the first time too so maybe we can work together in library."

"No way. You get those two together and you'll get no work done."

"Lyric's right. Sorry, Sadie, but I think George and I are going to have to get this done on our own."

"It sounds like he felt almost guilty," Talia noted. "Maybe you could use that later to motivate him again if he gives you any trouble."

"That's what I was thinking," Carina said thoughtfully as Sadie gaped next to them.

"Talia, no! Don't encourage her! You can't make him feel bad about this-"

"Sadie," Talia interrupted her, throwing an arm around the petite girl's shoulders. "Sometimes I wonder how we're friends because, honestly, you're too nice."

Carina and Lyric laughed as they trailed their friends back to the common room, with Sadie smartly replying to Talia.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hmm…" Carina pretended to read George's homework on the fundamentals of human transfiguration for a few moments longer than she had to, finding amusement in his increasing jitteriness. Once his bouncing knee began to actually shake their table, she took some pity on him and handed back his paper with an ill-concealed snicker. "Better. I would add some parts on human to animal transformations outside of Animagus forms but an overall good job. You can go to quidditch practice now."

"Thank Merlin," he muttered as he shoved the assignment in his bag. Carina cringed as the paper was crumpled but decided not to scold him further. "You know, if you wanted to spend more time with me, you could just ask instead of pretending to read my work."

"Goodbye, Weasley," she called out dryly, though she was surprised he had noticed her fake-reading at the end.

It had been about three weeks since their first meeting but things had progressed well since then. George had been doing his work well enough and they had managed to create a schedule that worked for both of them with minimal interactions. They hadn't even had any major arguments apart from when George had tried to bring a small niffler into the library once for a prank.

("It's just for a few hours and then I'll release him. I don't have anywhere else to put him!"  
"Where would you release him? WHY would you release him?"

She had managed to talk him out of releasing it in the Slytherin dorms but the next day there were reports of a rogue niffler wreaking havoc in the Hufflepuff common rooms.)

It wasn't in Carina's nature to be particularly optimistic, but things were progressing more as she'd originally planned.

Sadie was reviewing for their Charms exam tomorrow with Talia most likely painting her nails next to her in the common room, ready to wing the exam like she did with most assignments. Lyric had mentioned meeting up with an older Hufflepuff boy to study for that same class, although those words had been accompanied with a grin and a wink.

With most of her friends occupied, Carina finally had the time to answer the letter she had received a week ago. Her sister Gemma had been rather busy with the start of her Healer program in the summer, but she seemed to be settling in nicely into her specialty on treating wounds caused by magical creatures. Though she missed the chats she had shared with Gemma throughout the school year, Carina hadn't kept up the same frequency with their correspondence with the amount of work given in her OWL year.

Feeling a bit of guilt at waiting so long to respond, she scribbled a few lines about the new DADA professor ("reasonably competent"), her classes ("vacillating between exciting and torturously dull"), and her weekly sessions with Weasley ("meh"). Remembering that Talia had told her to ask Gemma whether there were any fit boys in her Healer program, Carina grinned and added Talia's inquiry at the bottom of the letter. Gemma would hopefully get a laugh out of that.

* * *

" _Fumos_!" Carina murmured, not wanting to be overheard by anyone wandering the halls at night, especially not Peeves or Filch. A thick cloud of smoke spewed from her wand and surrounded her, yet Carina still maintained clear visibility through the fog that would render any opponent disoriented.

Perfect. Carina allowed herself a smug grin at successfully casting the spell they would be covering in Defense class next week. Of course, there was only so much dueling practice she could do without having an actual partner to duel with. After her second year without a helpful Defense teacher, Carina had taken to practicing on her own. Bad teachers coupled with the benefit of looking like the first person in class to master each spell made her continue her secret review sessions. Three years later, the abandoned classroom on the fifth floor she used for practice had become her space for 'alone time.' Not even Sadie or Gemma had known that Carina had come here.

Having performed the spell enough times to her satisfaction that night, Carina decided she was finished for the night and made the trek back to the Slytherin dorms.

Though many of the Slytherins complained about their living situation, Carina didn't actually mind having to live in the dungeons. After all, they got a close up look at the merpeople inside the lake and the Giant Squid occasionally swam by to wave a tentacle at them. The only problem was how far away it was to everything else in the castle. It took several staircases to get down to the dorms, increasing the risk of getting caught at night.

"Argh!" Carina accidentally let out a small shriek as her foot fell through a step on the staircase and sank in up to her knee. She experimentally tugged her leg but it wouldn't budge. Another trick step Hogwarts was notorious for. Carina couldn't help but let out a small sigh in resignation. Who knew how long she would be stuck there until someone arrived?

Luckily, she only had to wait a few minutes before someone's footsteps sounded in the staircases right above her.

"Hello?" she called out. From the sounds of it, the person appeared to be running down the staircases quite quickly. Carina waited patiently for a few more seconds before George Weasley sprinted around the corner and almost tripped upon seeing her stuck in the middle of the staircase.

"Malfoy?"

"Yes." She shifted uncomfortably under his surprised stare. "Well, as you can see, I'm clearly stuck. Would you mind…"

Carina trailed off as George was still apparently too surprised to do much more than stare. He threw a hurried glance over his shoulder and relaxed, seeing no professor chasing him. With his windswept red hair and askew Gryffindor tie, it was clear that he was escaping the crime scene of his latest prank in a hurry. She softly cleared her throat, getting his attention back.

"Are you going to help me or not, George Weasley?" George raised his eyebrows, Carina figured because she pulled the full name on him. "Please?" she huffed out. Asking politely she would do of course, but if he brought her close to begging, she'd draw the line.

"And why shouldn't I just leave you here?" he asked, though Carina noted with a sense of relief that his tone was more conversational than threatening. Surely he wouldn't leave her here all night; despite their pranks against Slytherins, she knew even the Weasley twins wouldn't completely strand her in a time of need when she had done nothing to them personally. Assuming George didn't count Draco's childish taunts and her role as his de facto tutor against her, of course. "You're out at night, which is explicitly against the rules. Which, as a prefect, I'm sure you know."

Carina rolled her eyes. "Suddenly you're a model student, then? You're out after hours too and, as you kindly pointed out, my powers as prefect include being able to take away points and issue detentions. Unless you don't think the three you've gotten this week have been enough."

"I've had five actually." George grinned at her. His blue eyes crinkling looked quite nice, she thought. Certainly a different change of pace from the usual sneers he and his equally infamous twin had sent her originally.

"Well, since you asked so nicely," he finally quipped, still looking rather mystified, though Carina wasn't sure if it was at her current position of being caught after hours or that she actually asked him for help. George quickly descended down the stairs to where Carina lay stuck in the trap stair. He took her school bag off of her shoulder and set it aside before reaching down to wrap his arms around her waist.

"Alright, on the count of three then," he murmured and Carina nodded, her long white-blonde hair just barely brushing by George's face. "One, two, three!"

She threw her arms around his neck to brace herself and, with a big pull from George, she was free. The two lay sprawled out on the stairs for a moment as they caught their breath. Carina couldn't help but notice the weight of his arm still around her waist.

"Right then," she said, picking herself off his chest and determinedly not looking at him. "Thanks for the help-"

A menacing meow at the top of the stairs cut her off. Carina looked at George to see the same panic she felt mirrored on his face at the sight of Mrs. Norris at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, come on," George groaned. He rapidly grabbed Carina's bag, took her hand, and raced down the stairs.

"George…" she gasped, after a few minutes of sprinting alongside him. "Slow… down!"

"Just a bit more, hang on!" he yelled back in a whisper. Carina was about to shoot back a retort but, upon hearing Filch's voice behind her, decided to keep quiet and trust George on this. He probably had more experience with hiding from Filch in his first year than she would ever be able to gain in seven.

"In here." George stopped abruptly in front of a tapestry hanging on the wall. Carina crashed into his back but he pushed her into an alcove hidden behind the tapestry.

"What-" she began to squawk indignantly. George slapped his hand over her mouth and pinned her arms to her sides, effectively preventing her from shoving him away. Carina was just about to bite his hand covering her mouth when Filch's voice floated by their hiding spot.

"That's right, Mrs. Norris, sniff them out. Nasty students, out of bed at night…"

Carina shut her eyes tightly. Sure, her parents would probably take her side on this but she really didn't want her prefect status in jeopardy in the first place. Most of the professors were already skeptical of her accomplishments considering how much her parents bailed Draco out of trouble.

Carina was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize how silent her surroundings had become until a quiet meow in her ear had her practically shrieking. Luckily George's hand muffled the sound.

"I didn't think you'd react that badly," he snickered, his body practically shaking from the force of his laughs.

"You jerk," she scowled, pushing him away and punching him in the arm.

"Sorry." George smiled sweetly, not looking very sorry at all.

"Anyway-" She snatched her bag from the ground where George had dropped it. "We can go back now."

"Woah, wait." Carina turned to see an inquisitive look on George's face. "You never said what you were doing after hours."

"Neither did you," she said in a bored manner.

"I'll tell you what I was doing if you tell me yours." His bright grin was definitely not convincing her.

"I don't actually want to know, Weasley. Whatever you have planned-"

"It's not that bad." George raised his hands in a gesture of innocence that didn't suit him at all. "Fred and I were just setting up a little surprise for Snape tomorrow. So what was so important that Carina Malfoy had to stay out late?"

"If you _must_ know," she sniffed, throwing him an irritable look. "I was preparing for our Defense class tomorrow."

"You stayed up until two in the morning just to finish your homework?" George said incredulously. "Does it actually matter that much?"

"It _is_ our OWL year," Carina reminded him before turning to leave. "I'm going to sleep now, if you don't mind."

Carina made it exactly seven steps out of the alcove before George came after her.

"Wait a second, I remember you doing the Defense homework three days ago when we went over Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration." His expression was beginning to look more suspicious than amused.

"Will you just let me go to sleep?" Carina snapped.

"Sure. When you answer my question." He crossed his arms and stared down at her.

"Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?" she groaned.

"Yes," he replied promptly. "My mother, every day. But you're still avoiding the question."

"I _was_ actually studying Defense. But it wasn't the homework from last week, it was the topics we're reviewing tomorrow. Are you happy?" she added sarcastically.

"You're studying in advance?" George didn't look like he believed her. "Why on earth would you do that? What's the point of having a teacher then?"

Carina shrugged in what she hoped was a blasé manner. "It just helps me learn better. Now if we're done here…"

"Hold on." George had a dawning look on his face that Carina didn't like one bit. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that incident back in second year, would it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Carina whipped around to walk back but George snatched her arm and pulled her back. His grin was absurdly smug, she thought bitterly.

"I'm starting to remember a bit," he said slowly, clearly savoring her reluctance to talk about it. "Weren't you called up to do a spell in Defense and then accidentally set your own hair on fire?"

"That's not _quite_ how it happened," Carina forced out through gritted teeth.

"Hmm, that's how I remember it. And how I think everyone else in our year remembers it."

"It wasn't that bad."

"I thought it was pretty humiliating for you actually. Fred and I laughed about it for weeks," George said wistfully. "Ow! Stop hitting my arm!"

"Any more questions or can I go back now?" Carina's tone made it clear that any more inquiries would prove dangerous. Or so she thought. Either she was losing her touch or George Weasley was just the exception to her usual intimidating tactics.

"So you learn the material in advance so you don't mess up in class?" he guessed. "That is way too much effort to make people think you're smart."

"Hey, I _am_ smart. And this way I can understand the theory better and it always goes right for me in class." She tossed her hair back. "Good. Night."

Thankfully, George seemed to finally get the hint and let her walk off without further protest. Now if only he would keep this bit of information to himself.

* * *

Carina spent the majority of the next day's Defense class trying to take notes around Talia's doodles on her parchment.

"Aren't you going to take any notes yourself?" she whispered amusedly as she wrote down uses of the Fumos spell during a duel around a little caterpillar drawing.

"Why would I when I have you to take them for me?" Talia responded sweetly. "Just remember that I appreciate you."

"You can thank me by returning that blue skirt of mine you borrowed two months ago."

"Interesting suggestion but I'll pass. It's just so flattering on me." Talia grinned at Carina's raised eyebrow. "Ugh, why does Weasley keep looking over here?"

Carina's neck snapped up. "What?"

"He's been looking at us since the beginning of class. I don't know if he thinks he's being subtle but he's definitely not."

"Which one is it?"

"Don't know, they look basically the same to me," Talia said unconcernedly, continuing to work on her drawing of a hippogriff.

Carina turned to look at the Weasleys, who were per usual sitting in the back with their little posse of Lee Jordan and several of the girls on the Gryffindor quidditch team. Sure enough, George Weasley was staring right at her with an inquisitive look. Carina narrowed her eyes into a glare that she hoped screamed 'back off' and turned around decisively.

George seemed to stop and by the time Professor Lupin announced that it was time for the practical portion of the class, Carina felt rather sure that he wouldn't mention anything about her extra studying.

"Now who wants to be the first to try it out in front of your classmates?" Professor Lupin grinned at the class. No one made a move to volunteer. "Come on, don't make me pick someone."

"I think Carina wants to try it out, Professor," George spoke up, giving Carina a cheeky wink when she turned to look at him in horror. "I heard her saying how excited she was for this lesson."

"You seem very quick to volunteer someone else, Mr. Weasley. Perhaps you would want to try it yourself?" Lupin shot back in amusement. "Ms. Malfoy, if you feel up for it, I'm sure you would be a great example for the class. Don't feel pressured to do so because of Mr. Weasley however."

Feeling the whole class's eyes on her, Carina flushed angrily but stood up and made her way to the front of the class. Refusing to look at the rowdy Gryffindor group in the back that she was sure was laughing at her (Angelina Johnson had a particularly distinctive laugh), Carina took a deep breath, concentrated strongly, and, with a complicated wand movement, produced the heavy smoke that covered the entire room.

"Well done, Ms. Malfoy!" Professor Lupin said as he siphoned the smoke into his wand. "10 points to Slytherin for successfully casting the Fumos spell and doing so nonverbally. Everyone find a partner and begin practicing."

Carina marginally relaxed and went back to where she sat with Talia.

"What'd you do to piss off Weasley? Give him more homework?" Talia snickered.

"I actually thought we'd been getting along well enough," Carina said, rather put out at being called out.

"I'm sure it wasn't personal; those two will do anything for a laugh. At least you could actually do it though. Most of these losers here probably couldn't." Talia gave her a comforting nudge and a wink. "Now show me how to do it so the Gryffindors don't end up beating us out."

By the end of the lesson, Talia could cast the Fumos spell well enough, Lyric and Sadie had sent Carina encouraging looks from across the class where they were partnered up, and Carina felt significantly better about having been put on the spot to demonstrate the spell.

Of course, that feeling went away the moment Professor Lupin announced that they would be starting their dueling section next week and that it would last for _several weeks_. How was she supposed to practice dueling without a partner? Carina couldn't bring herself to mention her own practice time to her friends at this point; it had been way too long since she first started to finally bring it up. Even if they didn't make fun of her obsessive tendency to do well (which they definitely would), Talia and Lyric weren't concerned enough with school to put in that much extra effort for a class and Sadie was too preoccupied with her Ancient Runes and Charms classes to make Defense her focus.

As everyone filtered out of the classroom, Sadie and Lyric caught up with the other two, congratulating Carina on her spell.

"That'll show Weasley not to try and mess with you, you big nerd," Lyric said cheerfully.

"Wow, thanks," Carina said dryly but gave a small smile to her friend.

"Wait up." A hand grasped her elbow and gently tugged Carina back a bit. Startled, she looked up in George Weasley's blue eyes.

"Can't you just leave her alone already?" Talia said lazily. "Or do you not get enough of Carina as your tutor and need to see her actually in action in class?"

George rolled his eyes. "I just wanted to go over our schedule for this week for when we should meet up," he said, pointedly ignoring the rest of them and focusing on Carina.

"We'll save you a spot at lunch," Sadie promised and Carina watched her friends leave for the Great Hall.

"Our meetings are at the same time they've always been, Mondays and Thursdays at 6 and Saturdays at 1," Carina responded icily.

"Right." George shifted on his feet, looking rather uneasy for someone who had no trouble calling others out in front of everyone, Carina thought bitterly. "I wanted to offer-"

"You had no right to put me on the spot like that in class," Carina interrupted him, making sure there was no one nearby who could hear them. "I told you not to tell anyone about my studying. You can't just announce-"

"Hey, I didn't tell anyone, I swear," George said, a growing smirk on his face. "Now you know that it wasn't a big deal to have to go up. I knew you'd be able to do it anyway with your whole insane study schedule, I don't know why you're freaking out."

"I am having a perfectly justifiable reaction," Carina sniffed, though her anger was somewhat mitigated at his casual admission that he was sure she would succeed. A little flattery never hurt.

"I was just thinking that you won't really be able to pull that off again in front of the class with the new dueling unit," George continued.

"Don't worry about it," she said shortly.

"I know you don't want to be wasting your time with me on Transfiguration and, well, I'm doing pretty well in Defense…"

Carina blinked at him. What was he saying?

"You can't practice for the dueling unit on your own." He shrugged. "I could help with that."

"You?" she said skeptically.

"I'm in the top ten in our year in Defense in practical exams." To his credit, George didn't look offended at her doubt.

"Fine," Carina said slowly. "But only because this means I can hex you without getting in trouble."

"You realize I can do the same, right?" George called after her but she was already on her way to the Great Hall without a second glance. George Weasley had taken enough of her time for one day, Carina thought.


End file.
